Time Won't Let Me Go
by InvisibleLines
Summary: "Come on, the date is getting nearer and we still have nothing set in stone. Where is your ideal place?" the girl took her soon-to-be-wife's slender manicured hands in her own and looked right into her shiny brown eyes. "Your ideal place to say our 'I do's'." FOUR SHOT.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is going to be a FOUR SHOT! I've already completed each chapter and will be posting one every day. I really like this particular story and I hope you do as well. Interested? Then continue reading.

* * *

"Where do you want it to be?" a lean blonde haired girl wearing a sundress asked the slightly petite brown haired woman sitting across the small 2 top restaurant table from her.

"The reception?" the woman replied back.

"No. The actual ceremony. Come on, the date is getting nearer and we still have nothing set in stone. Where is your ideal place?" the girl took her soon-to-be-wife's slender manicured hands in her own and looked right into her shiny brown eyes. "Your ideal place to say our 'I do's'."

"My ideal, perfect place..." the woman stared off into the distant remembering her youth from a few years back.

"_Come on!" a young teen of about 18 was yelling back at a teenage girl wearing a yellow two piece bathing suit. She was floating atop the ocean gently letting the waves push her back and forth. "You know you could always get in; instead of staring at the water with that dumb look on your face."_

_"I would... if you know... Icouldswim," the teen girl yelled back to the green-eyed girl in a hurried fashion, smashing the last part of her sentence together._

_The long, blond-haired girl started to frantically swim to shore._

_"Um.. what..." she was trying to catch her breath after the fast swim, "What.. what do yo-yo-you mean? If... if you could what?"_

_The brown-haired girl lowered her dark eyes shyly and stared at her toes playing with the sand below her. "If.. If I could swim," she said barely above a whisper._

_"You mean to tell me. You begged, almost cried for us to spend our last summer, before I go to college, in California and you don't know how to swim?" she scoffed, a slight smile was appearing on her face._

_"I just, I thought, I don't know, it'd be fun. I've always wanted to come here, and when you offered a vacation just the two of us, I thought it would be perfect."_

_The slightly older teen took her girl's hands in her own and started to run towards the ocean. "You are learning to swim today! We aren't getting out of the water until you do!"_

_As soon as the younger teen realized what she was doing she started to try to run in the other direction. "No! Are you crazy? I'm going to drown! NO! Shouldn't we start with like, baby steps? You know.. in the bathtub?"_

_The older girl stopped running and faced her girlfriend who was now red in the face. She put her arms around her waist and whispered, "Now, please enlighten me, when have we ever taken 'baby steps?' Better yet, when have I let you take 'baby steps?'" A slow grin started to form when she saw that the younger girl lowered her eyes. "I. Am. Teaching. You. How. To. Swim. Right here. Right now. End of discussion."_

_"But-" the tan-skinned teen started to protest by taking her girls' arms off of her._

_The emerald-eyed teen lowered her face and caught her lips. "Didn't I say end of discussion?" She carried her bridal-style all the way in the water; having once reached it she gently lowered the girl while she proclaimed the water was too cold._

_"Please! Please, don't let me go," she frantically started to hang on to her girlfriend, wrapping her legs around her torso and carrying her arms across her neck._

_"Now, why would I ever let you go?" She nuzzled her face in her neck, her lips were right on her earlobe. "I'll never let you go, promise."_

_"Promise?"_

_She stared into her eyes, she could see her reflection in them. "Cross my heart and hope to die. You are mine." And with that she kissed her very gently before saying, "Now we really need to address your problem. Not knowing how to swim and you're almost 18." She tilted her head back and laughed._

"Hello! Are you there?"

She snapped her head back to reality and focused on the person sitting across from her, waving her slender hand back and forth in front of her face. She blushed slightly and smiled.

"Sorry. I was just remembering something."

"So? Do you have the place?" She raised her fiancée's hand and kissed it.

The young woman looked back at the blonde and grinned, "Yes. The beach. In California. Right on the beach."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Chapter 2 is now up! All the emails I saw this morning relating to this story means the world to me and makes my day; thank you all so much! :) Only two more chapters to go!

* * *

3 days later the same couple was seen strolling through a garden nursery hand in hand, walking behind them was the father-of-the-brunette-bride to be; he was complaining about there not being enough flower options available for them to ship all the way to California.

"Honey, can you please be reasonable, that's just too far away for all your relatives to just fly out on a whim. Why not here? In a church?"

"Hiram, daddy, you know I won't be getting married in a church, I thought we discussed this. Besides, it's _my_ wed-" She was cut off when the woman next to her cleared her throat. "I mean _our _wedding; if they don't want to come see me get married, fine, I don't care. Only people that matter will make the effort to come and see us." She stopped to kiss her fiancée, wearing another fitting sundress.

The older man rolled his eyes and replied back, "Fine. I just can't believe I won't see you in a church."

The young couple laughed and continued to walk through the endless amounts of flowers.

"Have you decided what flowers you want?" The blonde lady stopped walking and turned to face both the girl and her father. She looked at the younger brunette and saw that she was staring lovingly at a particular bunch.

"_I'll miss you so much. Not seeing your face every day, not being able to kiss you, hug you, hold your hand, let you walk me to class..." the young teen was starting to tear up again._

_The lovers were sitting atop a roof overlooking their hometown. It was their last night together before the older teen was to leave for college early the next morning. They had just finished having a picnic and were now watching the sun set together, hand in hand, the younger girl's head rested on her girlfriend's shoulder while she played the ring on her finger. _

"_Stop. I'm not going to _war_. You'll see me one weekend a month, and we'll Skype, chat, text, everything, it's like I never left. All I have to worry about is you not having a guy trying to convert you while I'm gone." The blonde answered back, laughing afterward._

_The much tanner girl smiled at the remark, remembering how they became friends of sorts while she had been dating a guy who never treated her with love or respect. It was the blonde who had convinced her to break up with him, and it was the same blonde she soon came to realize she was in love with._

_"And all I have to worry about is your co-ed bathrooms, the experienced college girls on your floor, and the 55+ classroom sizes filled with intellectual journalists to be. __Great.__" Sarcasm oozed from her statement._

"_They have nothing on you, no matter how 'experienced' they are." She stopped talking and they turned to face each other. The older teen lifted her hand up and wiped a single tear from her the girl beside her. "Come on now, at least you'll have something to look forward to every Tuesday." She kissed her forehead and smiled._

_Tulips. Orange tulips. It was their 'thing.' _

_Soon after they broke up for the first time, right before fall break, right after the younger brunette thought she was never going to see the blonde haired beauty again, the older teen sent her tulips every day to her house for 2 weeks. It soon became so much that she eventually had to go to her house and demand an explanation. She asked her why she was sending her these. She thought she had made it perfectly clear she didn't want to be with her if she was going to continue to act so stupidly. The blonde replied she wanted another chance; she wanted to prove to her she was different. She grabbed a pair of tulips from inside her home and looked at them while explaining to the girl in front of her, "Tulips. They are not too elegant, too romantic, too big, too small, or too bright; the tulip is always just right. They express perfect love. __You__, you are just right for me, as am I for you. Please, can you give me another ch-" The teen had cut her off with a kiss and said, "Yes._"

_Ever since that day she never forgot to send her orange tulips to her doorstep _every_ Tuesday morning._

_The younger teen decided to sit on her girlfriend's lap wrapping her arms across her neck. "Are you still planning on doing that, even if you are 1226 miles away?"_

"_If you want I can have them be sent every day." She stroked her long brown hair._

"_Every Tuesday is just fine," they shared a smile. Both kissed and held each other as if they were to never see each other again._

"Those!" The brown-eyed girl pointed at the orange tulips in front of her.

The father looked at her and said, "Dear, those aren't romantic enough. They're just friendship flowers." The man picked up an orange tulip and looked at it carefully. He remembered seeing these flowers before, spread throughout his daughter's room, but he couldn't quite put his finger on as to _why_ they were there. "I vaguely remember-"

"Tulips are not too elegant, too romantic, too big, too small, or too bright; the tulip is always just right. They express perfect love." The young woman cut off her father. She turned to look at her fiancée and handed her a tulip. She smiled a bright smile and bent down to kiss her.

"They are perfect. You're perfect." She swung her around and gently put her down. "Let's get them."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Second to last chapter!

* * *

"Kurt, I know yellow isn't your favorite color, but this isn't about you! Now hurry up and try it on!" One young man and woman were standing in an elegant department store. The brunette was trying to get her best friend to try on his man-of-honor suit, but he just wasn't having it.

"I just don't see why you had to choose _yellow._ They don't even match the flowers OR the beach vibe! No. I'm sorry but no." He sat down angrily in one of the plush red love seats.

The younger girl was already frustrated, her wedding was exactly in a month and she still wasn't done with all the preparations. The one person who she thought would make it all better was actually being her worst nightmare.

"Yellow... Yellow.." She let the dress slip from her fingertips as she blankly stared at herself in the mirror.

_It had been two months since they've last seen each other. The young teen couple thought they would be able to see each other the first month she was away, but as it turned out college was a lot more demanding then high school, and a lot pricier. But the green eyed girl was now able to gather enough money for a bus trip, a train ride, and a taxi to take herself to her beloved. _

_She rang the doorbell anxiously. She was tapping her feet while holding a small duffel bag in her hand and half a dozen tulips in the other. _

"_Come on, come on, you said you'd be here." The brooding college girl muttered to herself, she couldn't wait to see her girl in the flesh, to hold her, kiss her, stare at her; just the thought of this was making her even more nervous. Finally someone opened the door._

"_YOU'RE HERE!"_

_Instead of being greeted by a kiss or a hug she was greeted by a forceful tug on her arm, pulling her inside. _

"_Uh.. hi.. Santana? What-What are you doing here?" She asked confused, gently putting her bag down. _

"_I am genuinely hurt. No 'I've missed you, How are you?' or a simple 'Hello'? What kind of friend are you? I guess college really does change a person." The younger girl at the door, wearing a black pencil skirt and simple white t-shirt, was trying not to laugh._

"_Sorry," she gave her friend a hug, "I'm just surprised, that's all. I was expecting-"_

"_your lady to greet you at the door and jump into your arms while kissing you with a burning passion?" Santana rolled her eyes._

_The older teen dressed in black blushed, "Well kind of… Yeah"_

_Santana laughed, "She's waiting for you upstairs; I was just heading out. Good luck." With that remark and a wink, she left a very confused girl. The black-clad teen hurriedly picked up her bag, closed the door behind her, and ran up the stairs to the all familiar door. She knocked lightly. That's when the one person she had hoped would initially answer the door downstairs opened her bedroom door._

"_QUINN!" She jumped into her arms, "What are you doing here? Oh no! Santana! I didn't hear the doorbell, she must've told you to come up and, I'm not ready! Look at me! NO! It's ruined. I wanted everything to be-"_

_The girl put her down, took hold of her face and kissed her. _

_2 months. 2 months of waiting, wishing to do this. To taste her. _

_They frantically kissed each other as if they hadn't seen each other for years, decades, centuries. The older teen held her girlfriend closer to her, running her arms up and down her sides, while she guided her hands through her already messy dark hair. Tongues met and an all out battle began. She carried her to her bed but not before pushing the door closed with her foot. She gently put the younger teen down, much to her disappointment, and their lips parted. That's when she really took her in. She looked at her from above, her just laying there staring up at her with her deep brown eyes, her long hair was rather messed up from the past event that took place and her cheeks were perfectly flushed. She then noticed her outfit and couldn't help but to burst out laughing._

_"What__ are you __wearing?__" She was straddling her hips making sure not to put too much weight on her. _

"_I-uh-well. I told you I wasn't ready yet!" The girl underneath her was embarrassed and attempted to push her girlfriend off of her so she could put something a little more decent on, but the older teen wasn't having any of it._

"_Oh no, you have some _serious_ explaining to do."_

"_What do you want to know?" A blush was slowly starting to creep on her face._

"_You can start," she kissed her lips, "by explaining to me as to __why__ you are wearing bright yellow, rubber ducky pajamas." It was too much of a contrast against her black skinny jeans and black v-neck. Her girl was in bright yellow shorts and a matching shirt with a darker shade of yellow rubber duckies printed all over both._

"_Because," the brunette attempted to push the blonde off of her, "they are," another push, "COMFORTABLE!" She finally succeeded in getting her off and she stood up from the bed triumphantly and smoothed down her messed up hair. "Now, if you could so kindly __leave__ so I can change into something more decent." She walked to her bedroom door and opened it, gesturing for the girl on top of her bed to leave._

_She stood up and walked over to her. "No way. You look way too good in yellow." She caught her lips with her own and closed the door for her and once again guided her to the bed. _

_Once she was on top of the younger teen again she moved her hands all over her body. She deepened the kiss even more, running her hand through her hair. She slowly started to move to her neck, making her gasp, their bodies moved in an almost rhythmic pattern. That's when she stopped, she looked at her, their foreheads touching and it pained her to say it but he had to, "We need to stop."_

_A confused girl looked at her, "Why?"_

_She took hold of her left hand and saw her wedding finger. It was..._

"_Gone. I took it off," she smiled at him._

_Her purity ring. It was gone. _

_It was ironic really. The brunette never went to churches, and never really believed in god. That would be more of the older teen's role. But once the brown-eyed girl had given up the most valuable thing to her, to a boy that never really loved her, she had made a promise to herself to not get on a more intimate level with anyone until she was sure it would be out of love. She would not repeat her past mistakes._

"_But, but, why?"_

"_I love you. I know you love me-"_

_The older girl interrupted, "More than anything."_

"_Why does it matter? I, I just can't be away from you knowing I didn't give you what you really wanted-"_

"_Don't do this for me."_

"_I want it as well. I want it. I want YOU." She kissed her._

_The college girl pulled away. "Are... are you sure?" she asked, her voice shaking from nervousness and joy._

"_I've never been more sure. I know one day I'll be Mrs. Fabray. Why does it matter if it happens now or on our wedding night?" Her chocolate eyes now shone with a combination of love and lust._

"_You will. One day." They then kissed, passions building up, their bodies becoming one. _

_A yellow outfit discarded throughout the bedroom floor._

"Earth to Rachel!" An annoyed Kurt was now waving his hands in front of his lost-in-thought best friend. "I'm sorry OK? I'll wear that yellow suit if it's that important. You don't have to cry about it." He grabbed the yellow tux off of the floor and stepped angrily into the nearest dressing room.

Rachel, the tan beautiful brunette, was crying because she remembered that night, the night where she gave herself completely to the woman she loved.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Well, here it is! The final chapter of this short story. I've enjoying writing these, and I thank you all so much for reading/reviewing, adding this to your favorites and all that! It always my day a little brighter. :) Enjoy!

* * *

Rachel Berry was getting ready in her beach front hotel room.

Today was the day. Her wedding day. She was so nervous, anxious, giddy, sad, happy, too many emotions were going through her, too many for a 25 year old woman to handle. There was a knock on her door just as she was going to grab her 19th kleenex in the last hour.

"Please," she sniffed, "Come in."

Her best friend Kurt walked in through the door.

"Rachel, you look... beautiful!" He went over to hug her, "But why are you crying?"

"I don't know, I'm just so overwhelmed, I can't believe I'm actually going through with it. You know?"

Kurt Hummel, wearing of course the yellow suit, looked at his best friend, her brown eyes wide and scared and confused. He took Rachel's hands and said, "I get it. You're scared. It's normal. You've been through so much, I mean, just look at where you were a few years back, when she-"

"Please. Not now. Not today," Rachel interrupted her friend.

"Sure," Kurt hugged the bride one last time and said, "Someone's out there, wants to talk to you."

"Okay" She gave her man of honor one last hug before watching him leave.

"Rachel?"

Rachel looked up. The voice seemed all too familiar. She turned around and saw Santana.

"Santana? What... what are you doing here?"

The woman of 25 no longer resembled the girlish teen she had last seen when they were 19. She seemed a lot older. Her hair was neatly combed back in a tight ponytail high on her head, unlike the pin straight hair she would always let loose back in high school. She was in a blue pinstripe pencil skirt and a matching blazer, with a Bluetooth in her right ear. She was fully grown, confident with herself; Rachel could no longer recognize her.

Santana cleared her throat before proceeding, "I uh, I'm sorry for just coming here unannounced but I heard you um, were getting married. I work in Santa Barbara, so I uh decided to come here to, you know, wish you the best Rachel," her voice was shaking with every word she said, "I, uh, know we didn't end well, but uh, I just. I'm sorry."

"Santana," Rachel approached her and took her hands, "You don't have to apologize for anything. It wasn't your fault. If anything, it should be me. I never should've distanced myself from you. But it just hurt knowing she was your best friend."

Santana smiled at Rachel and embraced her in a long, friendly hug. She whispered in the bride's ear, "You are beautiful. She's very lucky to have you. She deserves you. Unlike-"

Rachel broke the hug and stepped away from her, "Please Santana." Her tears were watery.

"I'll be leaving," she took 3 steps towards the door before turning around. "I couldn't help but notice the tulips. Why Rachel? Why continue to cut the wound deeper?"

"_Get out!_"

Rachel didn't mean to react in such a harsh way to her former friend but she couldn't have people remind her of…_her._ She already had herself to deal with.

"Goodbye Rachel." Santana took one last glance at her friend wondering why she still dwelled on the past. It only hurt her.

Rachel Berry walked to her hotel closet and pulled out her suitcase. Opening the suitcase on top of her bed she took out one single picture. It was of her and Quinn Fabray, hand in hand walking on the beach. She remembered how in love they were, how they promised each other they would love each other forever, how one day she would become Mrs. Fabray.

But now as Rachel looked at herself in the mirror she knew forever didn't exist. Quinn had proven her that, and while Rachel hated her for what she did, how she _cheated _and got pregnant with another man's baby, she could never truly let her go. That's why even though it was her wedding to another woman, a woman she would eventually love as much as she did Quinn, she still incorporated the teen who always wore vibrant sundresses. Her first love.

The flowers, the color choices, the _location._ They were all small tributes, if you will, to the one girl she has every really and truly loved.

She placed the picture back in her suitcase and walked back to the mirror.

_"Why continue to cut the wound deeper?" _

She stared at the woman in white looking back at her, her brown eyes not showing any love, no happiness because she was about to get married.

_"Because time won't let me go."_

**FIN.**


End file.
